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Vi?e&urfiss Poultp^Sook 




Published hy 

The Farm Journal 

Philivdelphia 



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Per Year 
From Poultry 



THE CURTISS POULTRY BOOK 



Being a Complete and Accurate Account of the Great Plant and Present 

Successful Methods of W. R. and W. J. CurtJss. Operating the 

Niagara Poultry Farm of Ransomville, N. Y., Largest 

General Poultry Enterprise in the World. 



By 

Michael K. Boyer 

Poultry Editor "Farm Journal" 



PHILADELPHIA 

WILMER ATKINSON CO. 

1910 

25 Cents 



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Copyright, 1910 
WILMER ATKINSON CO. 



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Contents 



Page 

Niagara Ponltr\' Farm. Introductory 7 

Story of the Farm 9 

Learning How to Raise Ducks 10 

The Trade Catered To 10 

Farm, Buildings, and Equipment 1 1 

Feed Warehouse and Work Shop 12 

Incubator Cellar 13 

Methods of Hatching and Rearing 14 

Varieties Selected 14 

Best Breeds of Ducks 14 

Demand for Smaller Ducks 15 

Methods of Operation 17 

Operating the Incubators 17 

When to Hatch 22 

Feeding the Chicks 22 

Feeding Chicks on Range 24 

Feeding the Breeding Stock 26 

How Often to Feed 26 

Feeding Wrinkles 26 

How the Ducks are Fed 27 

Feed Formulas 28 

Brooding the Chicks and Ducklings 30 

Feathering and Molting ;i^ 

How Green Feed is Supplied S3 

Colonizing and Mating Stock Birds 34 

How Breeding Stock is Reared 38 

How Breeding Ducks are Selected 38 

How Fertile Eggs are Secured 39 

Killing, Dressing, and Shipping 43 

Killing Chickens 43 

Killing Ducks 44 

The Baby Chick Trade 45 

The Income 47 

Advice to Beginners 49 

Index 54 



Niagara Poultry Farm 

In the northwestern corner of New York, almost in sight of 
Lake Ontario, and only thirteen miles by railroad from Niagara 
Falls, is the pleasant country town of Ransomville. Tt is sur- 
rounded by rich, level farming country. The town has no great 
factories or commercial establishments, and only a few hundred 
human inhabitants ; but on the south side of the railroad is an in- 
dustry with a population of from fifty to one hundred thousand — 
an industry which has made the name of Ransomville familiar in 
all parts of the country ; for here is the largest plant of its kind in 
the world, the great Niagara Poultry Farm of W. R. Curtiss & Co. 

The Niagara Farm is not carried on in a showy way. It 
" produces the goods," but they are not kept in the show-windows. 
Indeed, there arc no show-windows. You might easily pass by the 
place on the train without dreaming that anything unusual was to 
be seen there. But here is an establishment (begun by a country 
boy with nothing but his own hands and head, and some debts) 
which has always had to make its own capital, yet has already 
been brought up to such a point of productiveness that its sales of 
chickens, ducks, and eggs exceed $100,000 a year; and so excel- 
lent are all its products, so safe and certain are its methods, and 
so profitable the results, that people come from all parts of the 
country to see the plant and learn " how it is done." 

Practical, Not Fancy. — The methods which have built up the 
Niagara Poultry Farm are in close harmony with the business 
methods always advocated and followed by the Farm Journal. 
" Practical not fancy farming " is the motto that has stood on the 
first page of the paper from the beginning; and "Practical not 
fancy poultry raising " is the policy that has brought the Niagara 
Farm up to its present position as a profit-maker. Therefore, 
when the Farm Journal was looking for the best examples of 
success in the various lines of farming for the help of its readers, 
it was natural and fitting that the Niagara Poultry Farm should 
be brought to its attention. 

To the pioneers in any great industry we owe a heavy debt. 
They deserve a large reward, for they have found and marked 
the safe path for us, at great cost to themselves. For long years 
the Curtiss Brothers have experimented, and watched, and tested, 
and compared results. They have met failure almost as often as 



O CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

success. They have had to devise their own methods, and to cor- 
rect and improve them, Httle by little, through years of patient 
toil, and often of heavy loss. They have had to learn by expe- 
rience, because there was no other way ; but now others can make 
use of their methods, with the certainty that every step has been 
made plain and safe. The fruit of twenty years' labor is here 
available for the beginner's guidance, at less than the cost of a 
" setting " of eggs. 

An Experienced Guide. — The great value of this book is that 
it is a story of experience. The Curtiss methods of running incu- 
bators, of housing and caring for fowls at different ages, their 
food formulas for young chickens, for laying hens, for " squab 
broilers," for young ducks, for market ducks, etc., have all been 
tested, modified, improved, and tested again, through years of ex- 
periment, until now they are so certain and reliable that losses or 
failures at the Niagara Farm are extremely rare. To beginners 
the value of such a guide is hard to estimate. The " poultry- 
fancier" who begins with a model plant and ample resources, in- 
herited or made in some other business, can perhaps afford to 
make experiments and work out methods for himself. Not so 
those men and women who, like Roy Curtiss, must begin at the 
beginning, and maintain themselves and their families while they 
build up their " plant." Such practical poultry-raisers, who can- 
not afford to make mistakes and incur losses, will appreciate the 
aid of a book like this, written from actual experience, which is a 
safe guide in every branch of the business, at every stage of their 
operations, and whether on a small or a large scale. 

In order that every detail might be studied, and that the facts 
might be brought out in their proper light, the writer spent the 
best part of a week at Niagara Farm, and collected matter that 
should be of great value not only to beginners, but to veterans in 
the business, as well. There are no phenomenal records to present 
to readers — there is no tempting bait held out ; it is simply the 
narrative of two young men who, beginning in a small way, have 
accomplished what probably has never before been equalled. It 
is deeply interesting. It shows how, step by step, the plant was 
built up ; it touches upon the mistakes made, and tells how, grad- 
ually, experience righted them, and thus how the enterprise has 
grown to its present gigantic proportions. 

The pictures of the book tell their story, and the methods 
(" secrets," if you like) are given for the first time. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 9 

The Story of the Farm 

It was about twenty years ago that the younger of the Curtiss 
Brothers (Roy) began keeping poultry with an aim to making a living. 
The father had a number of hens on the farm, but they were neglected, 
kept more "after a fashion" than anything else. Roy conceived the idea 
that he could make a profit out of them, and as the family actually re- 
ceived no income from the stock, he made his father a proposition. It 
was that he (Roy) was to feed and care for the fowls, while the father 
supplied the feed. In return for this, the boy was to deliver free to 
the family all the poultry and eggs that were needed, and all over that 
number belonged to Roy, to sell or dispose of as he saw fit. The prop- 
osition was accepted. 




It re(|uires quite an army of help on Niagara Farm, and each employee 
has his or her particular work to perform 

Roy looked ahead. He wanted to enlarge the plant, and therefore 
it would not be wise for him to sell all the young fowls. So he carefully 
picked out the most desirable (according to his crude ideas) which he 
retained for additions to next year's stock. Gradually the plant en- 
larged, and all the time the father faithfully kept his promise to supply 
the feed. 



Calling for a New Deal — But, after a while, the heavy cost of feed 
became a serious question with the father, and he naturally became un- 
easy. Roy was entirely too ambitious for him. A few more years of en- 
largement of the plant and it would mean a case of bankruptcy. Already 
he was paying as high as a dollar for an egg, to say nothing about the 
fabulous price for a roasting fowl for a Sunday's dinner. 

The father cannot be blamed for crying halt. It was time for him 
to do so. There was a consultation, and it was a very business-like 
meeting, too. 

"I will give you every chance, and help you all I can," said the 
father, "but you must pay your own feed bills, and I will pay you the 
market rate for what eggs and poultry the family consumes." 

It was a fair proposition, and Roy did not dissent. This move did 
not dishearten him in the least. He realized the merits of his father's 
protest, and resolved to work out his own problems. 

He had already reached that point in his venture when he could 
see possibilities ahead, so he put additional energy in his work. 



lO CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

As early as two o'clock in the morning he would take his father's 
team and drive to Niagara Falls — thirteen miles distant — and sell his 
product from door to door. It was hard work, but the retail trade gave 
him a better price, and his profits grew. 

Jay, the older brother, in the meantime left home to seek a liveli- 
hood in other channels. He returned a year afterward, and was sur- 
prised to find how Roy had branched out. Jay had been successful, but 
when he compared notes he found that his brother was making more 
money than he. 

Then it was when the partnership was formed. The work had 
already become too great for Roy alone, but now with Jay's help they 
would be able to branch out to a greater extent. At that time the well- 
known Niagara Farm was established, under the ownership of W. R. 
Curtiss & Co. 

For the first ten years there were many mistakes and drawbacks, 
but the two young men had placed their shoulders to the wheel, and 
their perseverance and energy overcame all difficulties. 

Some of their troubles were the spoiling of thousands of eggs, for 
the reason that the incubators used were worthless; great difificulty in 
hatching and rearing incubator chicks through lack of knowledge of 
artificial methods, and chronic shortage of working capital, a very 
important matter. Then 1,400 ducks, hatched and raised in summer, 
were sold in the fall, leaving them in debt to the tune of four hundred 
dollars for feed. This was because they held the ducks too long, they 
thus losing instead of gaining in weight; and so on. The duck problem 
was indeed a serious one, and something must be done. 



Learning How to Raise Ducks 

The Curtiss boys realized that their knowledge of duck culture was 
entirely too limited, and so in order to get a better understanding, and 
that they might better become acquainted with the more modern 
methods. Jay secured a position with A. J. Hallock, of Long Island, 
who had the largest and most successful duck farm in this country. 

Regularly Jay would write home to his brother, advising him of 
methods that would overcome their difficulties, and Roy put the in- 
structions to good use. At the end of the season Jay came home to 
stay, and the boys worked hard correcting the mistakes of previous 
years. From that time on the duck proposition became a paying one. 

In the start they experienced considerable difificulty in educating 
the people of the surrounding country to eat duck. They sold a ton 
of dressed carcasses to one of the leading Buffalo hotels at ten cents 
a pound, but since that time they have sold tons at three times that 
price, and never at a figure lower than fifteen cents per pound. They 
are now annually marketing as many as 50,000 green ducks. 



The Trade Catered To 

The trade for both the poultry and the eggs consists principally of 
hotels, restaurants and clubs. Private family trade, it is argued, costs 
too much time and money, together with bookkeeping and worry over 
small accounts, thus leaving no greater profit, all things considered, 
than what they derive by their present system. 

In some sections of the country, especially in and near large cities, 
they furnish stock to dealers who have built up a large and select pri- 
vate trade, as well as clubs, restaurants and hotels, but as these dealers 
pay outright for the goods, Niagara Farm has no concern over the cus- 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



II 



torn. In some towns agents are employed who take orders which are 
filled by the farm, the agent being paid a commission for his work, and 
shipments and collections made direct. 

The trade of the farm lies largely at Thousand Islands and in the 
Adirondacks, the latter trade being heavy during the entire year. 

Over one hundred regular customers are catered to in semi-weekly, 
weekly, etc., shipments, many of these customers acting as middlemen 
in disposing of the product. It required more than ten years to secure 
this valuable outlet, which extends to such large cities as Niagara Falls, 
Buffalo, Rochester. New York City, etc. 

The Farm, Building's and Equipment 

The farm is situated right across the road from the railroad station 
at Ransomville. It consists of sixty-three acres of sandy loam soil, 
known in some sections as a "chestnut soil." The land lies level, and 
the houses are given a south and east exposure, thus having the pre- 
vailing winds of winter strike all the buildings endwise. 

The feed storehouse, containing the office, is close to the railroad 
station. The grain elevator has a capacity of 10,000 bushels, and is 
located alongside the railroad tracks, so that most of the feed is un- 




SECTION UK THE DIXK lAlTl-.MM, TL.N 

Thoiisaiid> of ducks are fattened each season on Niagara P'arni, going into the market 
in prime condition 



loaded, mixed and fed to stock without the use of a team for carting. 
One of the big mixing machines has a capacity of mixing up twenty 
bushels of wet mash at one time. 

There are two hundred colony houses, six hundred feet of heated 
brooder houses, and three hundred fireless brooders. 

The duck brooder house has a capacity of 25,000 ducklings at one 
time, and there are summer shades and shelter for as many more. The 
duck houses are immense buildings, one measuring 36 by 508 feet; the 
other, 16 by 450 feet. Ten tenement houses located on the farm are 
used exclusively for help employed. 

The buildings contain 200.000 square feet of floor space. 

Besides the incubator cellar, with brooding-house above, which is 
believed to be the largest in the world, there are 1,500 feet of duck 
fattening shed, thirty-six feet wide; ice pond and ice-houses right on the 



12 CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 





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DUCK BROODING HOUSES AT NIAGARA F^ARM 

Here fully 5000 ducklings at a time are nursed and cared for a month or two before 
they are placed in runs 

farm, one gas engine, one steam engine, two windmills, three complete 
water systems, and over 10,000 feet of water pipe laid all over the farm. 

The picker house measures 18 by 40 feet, with a loft for the stor- 
age of feathers. Adjoining the killing room is a shed 16 by 20 feet, in 
which are quartered the ducks and chickens ready for killing. 



The Feed Warehouse and the Work Shop 



The feed warehouse and the work shop are combined. On the first 
floor of the latter there is a capacity of one hundred tons of grain at 
one time. It requires considerable feed to satisfy the hunger of the 
thousands of chickens and ducks on Niagara Farm. Not less than five 
hundred bushels of grain per day, or a full carload per week, is fed. 

The machinery used in this building consists of a Smith meat chop- 
per for chopping meat, vegetables, etc. This machine is used princi- 
pally for cutting vegetables. It has a capacity of three bushels, and cuts 
potatoes, turnips, beets, etc., in very small pieces. 

Two feed mixers are used — one a Maxwell, and the other a Morton. 
Each have a capacity of about twenty bushels at a mixing. One of these 
machines drops the mixed feed in cars on the track to be taken out to 
the duck ranch. The other machine places its product in wagons to be 
hauled out on the range where the poultry are quartered. 

In the basement of this building is a Myers pump that furnishes 
water for the mixing machines, and besides supplies the water needed 
in the fattening and growing yards of stock located on the west side 
of the farm. 

A Wilson Brothers power bone cutter is also installed for use when 
bone is required for the stock. 

An Olen five horse-power engine is now used to furnish power for 
running the dififerent machines, but this will shortly be replaced by a 
ten horse-power engine to be run by a dynamo — the farm to be shortly 
supplied with electric power, as stated elsewhere. 

About two hundred tons of coal are consumed each year on the 
farm. 

In the forepart of this building is located the office, a spacious room, 
in which is desk room for the two proprietors (W. Roy and W. Jay 
Curtiss), and also for the father of the boys, whose duty it is to do 
the bookkeeping for the firm, and conduct visitors about the farm. A 
young lady, an expert stenographer and typewriter, is constantly engaged 
in handling the large correspondence. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



The Incubator Cellar 



13 



The incubator cellar, believed to be the largest in the world, is 48 
by 170 feet in dimensions. The building is two-story, the upper story 
being used as a chick nursery, where the young are first given brooder 
heat, and then afterward placed in fireless brooders, as is explained under 
the heading of brooding. 

In this cellar are quartered one hundred and twenty-five incubators 
of the Prairie State manufacture, besides which there is a Hall mam- 
moth incubator, 7,500 egg capacity (and two more of the same size 
contracted for), quartered in another building, and which is devoted 
to hatching baby chicks. 

The cellar is ventilated by a six-inch terra cotta pipe placed through 
the side wall, about six inches from the floor, and this is connected by 
an elbow and a three-foot joint of terra cotta, pointing upward. In this 
manner the foul air is conducted to the outside, and at the same time 
the outside air is prevented from rushing back into the cellar. These 





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IIIE INCUIIArOK IKIUSE AT MA(;AKA FARM 
Said lo be the larg-est in the world. The nursery is on the second floor 

ventilators arc placed every sixteen feet on both sides of the cellar. 
The cellar wall is two feet thick, and is banked up with earth on the 
outside, the floor of the cellar being even with the outside surface. 

The incubators are placed in blocks of four machines, so that they 
do not stand in front of the ventilator holes in the wall, the latter being 
located between each block, thus preventing the lamps of the incubators 
from being blown out. and besides there might be a possibility of drafts 
of air striking the machines. As the incubators are arranged length- 
wise, there is ample space to allow a four-foot aisle between each row. 

Besides the ventilator holes mentioned, there are ten windows on 
each side of the cellar, about sixteen feet apart, and placed up near the 
ceiling. These are opened during warmer weather when it is intended 
to more quickly cool the atmosphere. 

Near the center of the cellar are located two egg-testing booths, 
measuring 4 by 6 feet, and about six feet high, encased with heavy lining 
paper. 

There is telephone connection from the ofifice to several buildings 
on the farm, greatly saving time in calling up the heads of the different 
.departments. 

This is a farm where visitors are always welcome, and one man is 
kept busy showing people about the place and exi)laining matters. 



14 CUKTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

Methods of Hatching* and Rearing 

Niagara Farm bears the distinction of being the largest poultry 
plant of its kind in the world. There are farms upon which more 
chickens are raised, and farms upon which more ducks are raised; but 
there is no farm on which so many head of stock are produced — 
reared — counting both chickens and ducks — as on this place. 

The products of the farm are table eggs, hatching eggs, roasting 
fowls, squab broilers, baby chicks and ducklings, and breeding stock 
in both poultry and ducks. 



The Varieties Selected 

As stated elsewhere, Curtiss & Co. tried all the leading breeds, 
rhey wanted a variety that would best meet the requirements of their 
trade. In short, they needed business fowls. 

They wanted a broiler breed. A variety that would quickly grow a 
plump body, and at the least expense, and one, also, that would present 
an attractive carcass. 

Twenty different varieties in the American class, some of the 
Games, a few of the Asiatics, and even some foreign breeds, in turn were 
tested, but finally they narrowed down to the White Wyandottes. They 
found that this breed not only gave them the broiler wanted, but also 
furnished an excellent small-sized roasting fowl. For sixteen years 
this variety has been bred on Niagara Farm, and by careful selection 
and mating they have also gotten up a strain of large, brown egg layers. 
The laying capacity of the hens is judged by the Hogan system, and it 
has proved successful with them. 

The advantages they secured in the White Wyandottes were good 
size, with rich yellow skin and yellow legs, and a broad and meaty back 
and breast. 

When the demand came for a larger sized roasting carcass than the 
White Wyandotte could furnish, the Barred Plymouth Rock was tested, 
and while it served th^ purpose there still was an objection in the dark 
pin feathers, which, despite the best of care by the pickers, would often 
present a bad looking carcass. The White Plymouth Rock was then 
tried, and in this breed they found the ideal for soft roasters, and being 
of a white plumage there was not that objection of dark pin feathers 
to be found as is the case with the Barred. Cockerels of this breed 
dress nine pounds each, and pullets seven pounds each, in four months. 
They also found the White Plymouth Rocks to be equal, or nearly so, 
to capons, bringing- almost as good a price on the market, and saving 
ninety per cent, of the work and one-half the time in production that is 
needed with capons. 

As the egg trade increased, and they found the trade calling loudly 
for white-shelled eggs (a fad peculiar in New York), they tested the 
Single Comb White Leghorns, and found them to be very hardy and 
a very profitable fowl to handle. They are light feeders and can be 
confined with less floor space in winter than any breed they ever kept. 
They also found them to be excellent for squab broilers, and for this 
purpose the cockerels are sacrificed. 



The Best Breeds of Ducks 

At present the Pekin is the only duck used on the farm, Dut, as 
already stated, a test is about being made with the Indian Runner ducks 
to supply a trade that calls for a lighter weight carcass. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



15 




A KiLl.lNC OF DL'CKIJNGS URESSED READY KOR MARKET 
Niagara Farm makes it a point to dress carcasses in the most attractive manner 



The Pekin ducks on Niagara Farm are of large size, mature early, 
and average 140 eggs per duck during the season. The eggs are very 
fertile, rarely running below eighty per cent., and most of the time 
ninetv-five per cent, and even better. At seven to nine weeks old, the 
yoinig average five pounds each, dressed. Niagara Farm has bred the 
Pekin duck for fifteen years. 



Demand for Smaller Ducks 



Fifteen years ago Niagara Farm had a hard time to grow ducks to 
weigh four pounds each, but by careful selection their stock each year 
has improved, and by breeding more for size, it is now hard work for 
them to have ducks weighing less than five pounds — the weight generally 
running between five and six pounds. 

But gradually a demand increased for ducks weighing four to four 
and a half pounds each, and it became a serious question how to cater 
to that trade. So at present a test is being made with Indian Runner 
duck eggs, several thousand of which have been purchased. Some of 
the young were hatched at the time of the writer's visit, but not until 
next season can the Messrs. Curtiss tell if the Indian Runner will serve 
the purnose for what they intend or not. The chances are, however, 
that they will. 

The Curtiss people report this year (igio) as the best in their ex- 
perience for prices. During the winter of 1909-10, prices went so high 
as thirty-five cents a pound, and never less than twenty cents, and those 
prices, too, by the ton lot, sent to wholesale trade. As late as June, 
1910, the prices still ranged from twenty-two to twenty-five cents per 
pound to the trade. 

The aim is to have ducks for sale the entire year. There were just 
two weeks last year that Niagara Farm had no ducks to ship to market. 
There were 50,000 ducklings marketed the past season, and of the total 
number hatched, the loss ran only from two to five per cent. During 
a Wet season the loss is more heavy than it is during a dry one. 

A specialty on Niagara Farm is its winter duck supply. 







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NIAGARA DUCKLINGS 

It is a pretty sight to stand at one end of the Brooder Runs and see thousands of Baby Ducklings in their 

comic movements, and all as busy as bees 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 1 7 

Methods of Operation 

There are few theories on Niagara Farm. Every step taken has 
been carefully considered. There must be a reason for it. Every idea 
that proves to be good and useful is adopted. All unnecessary work 
is saved. Every move must show economy and profit. The proprie- 
tors have their sleeves rolled up, and are not afraid to work. Each has 
his section of the farm to superintend, and everything moves along 
smoothly. 

About fifteen men are employed in winter and twenty-five during the 
summer. This does not include between twenty to thirty women pickers, 
who are at work every day of the week, excepting Saturday and Sunday. 

It is a rule on Niagara Farm to have a hatch come off every Mon- 
day and Thursday, and it is another rule that every Tuesday and Friday 
every egg that has not been sold or placed in the incubators, must be 
sent to market. In that way the customers are guaranteed strictly fresh 
eggs, and there are no eggs on hand to become stale. 



Operating the Incubators 

The great incubator cellar is in charge of Leo Curtiss, a younger 
brother of the firm, who has as his assistant a bright Japanese boy, 
Shozo Nomiura, who came to this country from Tokio, Japan. 

At five o'clock in the morning the incubator men begin turning the 
eggs, and so skillful have they become that by 6.30 o'clock every egg 
has been turned, and the men go to their breakfast. 

The eggs are turned mostly by placing an empty tray over a full 
one, and giving it a swing, thus emptying the eggs from one tray to the 
other. In some of their machines they are compelled to use the shuffling 
method, but prefer the old-style extra tray idea. This, they argue, guar- 
antees every egg turned, and, in consequence, they cut down the per- 
centage of deaths in the shell. 

The eggs are again turned in the evening, beginning at four o'clock 
and generally ending at six o'clock. 

When turning the eggs by the trayful, it is done slowly, and not by 
a quick whirl. Mr. Leo Curtiss says that the tray method of turning 
does the work more accurately, and prevents the blood vessels from 
growing fast to the shell. 

After breakfast is over the work of trimming the lamps begins. 
Instead of cutting the wicks with a pair of shears, as is so often done, 
especially by beginners, the charred part of the wick is scraped off. 
This gives a more even and steady light, and does not leave corners to 
the wick which smoke and collect soot. There is considerable danger 
when soot collects in the lamp chimney, as it is apt to ignite and cause 
a fire. The work of fihmg the lamps follows that of scraping the wick. 
The Curtiss people prefer filling the lamps in the morning in prefer- 
ence to evening, as is generally advised, for the reason that they have 
ample time to watch the flame and see that it is burning steadily. Past 
experience taught them that when the lamps were cleaned and filled at 
night, in many cases the flame went up after the attendants had left the 
cellar, and ruined hatches were the consequence. After each lamp has 
been filled it is carefully cleaned of all dirt and oil that may have dropped 
on the surface. Too much care cannot be taken in this particular, as 
every chance of fire must be removed, not only for the benefit of the 
hat^, but the safety of the building. The best kerosene oil is used, 
that which will stand 150 degrees test. Cheap oil is dangerous. A new 
wick is used at the beginning of each hatch, so that there will be no 
possibility of a short wick, which, after having lost all of its oil, burns 
out. Extra care is taken to keep the burner free from dirt, taking par- 
ticular notice that the little sieve on the burner is not closed up, so 







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CURTISS POULTRY UOOK. I9 

that there may be a free circulation of air. Care is also taken that the 
flame of the lamp is not turned up too high or it may smoke, and 
in this way gather soot. In fact, they never allow the flame of the lamp 
to be higher than is strictly necessary. Eggs themselves throw off very 
little heat for the first two weeks. 

The Curtisses believe that cooling eggs make strong chicks, and 
that once a day throughout the entire hatch is not sufficient for good 
results. When the first test is made, seven days after the incubator has 
been started, the eggs are cooled for five minutes in winter and fifteen 
minutes during summer. This is continued for one week. Then after 
that the cooling is performed twice a day, allowing the eggs to cool 
longer as the animal heat in the egg increases, which is about ten min- 
utes in winter to twenty minutes in summer. To know just how long 
to cool, a thermometer bulb is placed on a live egg, and when it drops 
to eighty-five degrees the tray is returned to the machine. The trays 
are placed on top of the machine while being cooled, and the doors of 
the incubator closed. This is the opposite to the practice of some incu- 
bator men who cool the eggs in the machine by leaving the doors open. 
It is reasoned that the eggs more quickly receive the proper tempera- 
ture if the heat is retained in the incubator, and, having tried both 
methods, the Messrs. Curtiss find the latter more reliable and practical. 

The Curtiss method of adding moisture to the eggs is different from 
that generally practiced. No moisture pans are used in the machines. In- 
stead, in the case of hens' eggs, they are lightly sprinkled with tepid 
water two or three times during the hatch, according to state of weather 
— once during the first week, and twice during the second week. In the 
case of duck eggs, a light sprinkling is given them after first test, and 
a more liberal sprinkling after second week of incubation. In addition 
to this the floor of the cellar (which is earth) is kept damp by thor- 
oughly sprinkling with a hose. The dryer the air, the more rapid is 
evaporation of the egg. Too much moisture is as dangerous to duck 
eggs as it is to hen eggs. When too much moisture is given, the chick 
grows more than it should, and becomes too large to remain in the 
egg, yet not sufficiently developed to come out. 

The first test of hen eggs is made on the seventh day of incubation, 
and the second one on the fourteenth day. This gives a better chance 
to correctly judge the condition of an egg than is afforded when 
testing on the fourth day. Weak germs often die during the latter part 
of the first week, and if not detected on the fourth day test, remain in 
the incubators, to the risk of having the bulb of the thermometer rest 
upon them, thus giving a false registry of temperature, which, while it 
may not kill a hatch has a strong tendency to cripple it. The seventh 
and fourteenth days' tests give more positive information. 

Duck eggs are tested on the seventh and twenty-first days. 

The averages of percentages of hatches made by Niagara Farm, 
according to the reports, show ninety per cent, for White Leghorns; 
seventy-five to eighty per cent, for White Wyandottes and White Ply- 
mouth Rocks, and seventy-five to eighty per cent, for ducks. 

It might here be mentioned that the Pekin ducks are used, and have 
been since the start of the farm, but experiments are now being made 
with Indian Runner ducks, as the call at Niagara Farm for smaller car- 
casses has tempted the proprietors to give the Indian Runners a trial. 

On the day of the visit of the writer, six machines of hens' eggs 
hatched, and as the little chicks were being taken out of the incubators 
a careful count was made, resulting as follows : No. i machipe, 203 
chicks; No. 2, 252; No. 3, 250; No. 4, 244; No. 5, 267; No. 6, 327, mak- 
ing a total of 1,543 chicks from 1,673 fertile eggs. This is certainly a 
big showing. In machine No. 2, 351 eggs were originally set, out of 
which 252 chicks were hatched, and in machine No. 6, 327 chicks were 
hatched out of 337 fertile eggs. 

In the case of the total, showing that 1,543 chicks were hatched from 
^fi73 eggs, it would appear that 130 eggs failed to hatch, but in truth. 




TURNING INCUBATOR EGGS 

The eggs on Niagara Farm are turned by the old-fashioned method, placing an empty tray 

upon a full one, and giving it a turn over 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 21 

there were but 105 eggs in which there were dead germs or chicks, as 
twenty-five chicks came out of the shell but died before they could be 
removed. Only live chicks are above recorded. 

On each machine is tacked a card which gives the history of the 
hatch, as follows : 



RECORD. 

Machine No Time set 

No. eggs set Kind of eggs . . . 

Time, first test No. eggs fertile 

Time, second test Per cent, fertility 

Hatch due No. live germs . 

No. of chicks hatched 

Remarks : 



Mr. Leo Curtiss furnished the following report from his record 
book, which will give an idea of the wholesale manner in which chicks 
and ducklings are turned out in the incubator cellar. 

For the season of 1910, up to the time of the writer's visit (the 
last week in June), 100,319 youngsters came out of their shells, of which 
35,148 were ducklings and 65,171 were chicks. Besides there were 
enough duck eggs in the incubators to run the total number of ducklings 
up to 40,000. The machines are in constant operation for ten months 
in the year. 

The total number of duck eggs set was 61,995, and the total number 
of chicken eggs 108,762. Fully 25,000 more head of youngsters are yet 
to be hatched. 

This shows that a little more than one duck or one chick was pro- 
duced from every two eggs set, taking the winter and summer averages. 

The machines were run on duck eggs from February 28th to June 
28th (time of writer's visit), and the chicken eggs from February 7th 
to June 28th. 

Only fresh eggs are used for incubation. In fact, there are no stale 
eggs on Niagara Farm. It is a rule that every Monday and Thursday 
all eggs that are not placed in the incubators, or otherwise disposed of, 
must be shipped to market. They are equally careful in the selection 
of their eggs, discarding all deformed, small or extra large sized, and 
those having flaws in the shell. 

Another point is to have the temperature the same in all parts of 
the machine, which is done by having the machine standing perfectly 
level, and also by tipping the trays slightly when needed. 

It is the aim of the operator to have tlie thermometer register as 
near 102 degrees the first week of the hatch as is possible, about 103 
degrees the second week, and 103% to 104 degrees the third week 

Care is taken not to allow the heat to run up the first week of the 
hatch, or the latter may be killed or badly injured. In case the heat gets 
a single degree above what it should register, the eggs are at once 
cooled. 



'22 CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

The incubators are not allowed to stand near a window, as this often 
has a tendency to increase or decrease the heat in the machine. 

Should the temperature get too high, the hatch is apt to come off 
before it is due; and if too low, the hatch will be delayed several days. 
Either extreme is detrimental to the strength of the chicks. 

A study of the air cells of the eggs is made, and treatment governed 
according to their size. 

In placing the eggs in the incubator, the large ends are all pointed 
the same way in the trays and slightly raised. 

After removing all infertile eggs the fertile ones are spread out on 
the trays so that they will occupy about the same relative position to one 
another. 

When eggs are overheated in the beginning of the hatch, the chicks 
are generally found dead in the shell when the hatch is due. They are 
also found dead when they form near the small end of the egg. 

After each hatch the machines are thoroughly disinfected by a coal 
tar product, of which ten per cent, is used in warm water. 



When to Hatch 

For breeding stock, Niagara Farm does its incubating principally 
during the months of April and May, as they find the hatches are more 
sat'sfactory at that season, the chicks being more strong and vigorous. 
They have, however, had good results from hatches made during March 
and June, but only resort to those months when the demand calls for it. 

Niagara Farm also finds that chicks hatched the latter part of August 
to about the first of November, and carried over until spring, bring a 
better profit as roasting fowls than roasters raised and marketed at any 
other season. 

The hatches of July and August, as well as those of November and 
December, are not so satisfactory, as the stock brought out do not meet 
the best markets. Besides there is less fertility of eggs, and other 
difficulties arise that do not appeal to or warrant much work being done 
in that direction during that time. 

The Niagara Farm has for years experimented, by a series of tests 
in incubating, to find if it is not possible to secure a year-round duck 
egg yield, so that there would be continuous hatching. They have, by 
selecting pens of breeders from each month's hatching, gotten to the 
point where they can now run the incubators on duck eggs the entire 
year. They find that winter-hatched ducks prove to be the most profit- 
able for next season's hatching, and have had ducks lay in June that 
were hatched in January. 

For broilers, it has generally been contended that hatching should 
begin in October and end in May. 

For ducks, the regular laying season commences about January 20th, 
and a fair average is four eggs per week, per duck, from that time on 
to June 20th, after which they gradually let down, stopping entirely 
toward the last of July. Now it is just that schedule that Niagara Farm 
has succeeded in improving by now getting eggs practically the entire 
year. 

Feeding the Chicks 

The newly-hatched chicks are not fed until they are about three 
days old. They find it a good rule to watch the condition of the chicks, 
and when they see them becoming active and hunting for something" 
to eat, they know that they are ready for their first meal. It is a mis- 
take to coax them to eat. 

The chicks are not removed from the incubator until they are forty- 
eight hours old, and their first meal consists of a little pin head oat 





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^^^^^B^^r ^^k "^^IBS^F 




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24 CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

meal scattered on a board. The little ones are then allowed to help 
themselves. 

After that they are fed a mixture composed of equal parts (by 
measure) of chick-cracked corn (corn cracked to about pin-head size), 
a fine grade of wheat screenine^s or finely cracked wheat, together with 
some fine seeds. These seeds are in mixture, and generally for sale by 
large seedsmen. The mixture contains clover, timothy and wild seeds, 
thus giving quite a variety. The wild seeds furnish a natural food, 
such as are secured by the birds or chicks while out on range, and the 
Niagara Farm has found the entire mixture of more value than any of 
the commercial chick feeds that they have ever tried. 

After a week or ten days, a mash is also used, consisting of one- 
third hard-boiled eggs (the infertile eggs tested out of the incubator are 
used for this purpose) and two-thirds of a mixture of equal parts of 
corn meal and bran, mixed thoroughly by hand. The hard-boiled eggs, 
shells and all, are chopped up in an Enterprise meat chopper. The 
shells of the eggs furnisli lime that helps to build up bone. This food 
is given twice a day. At all times, grit, charcoal and dry bran, kept in 
small boxes are constantly before the chicks, so they can help them- 
selves at will. 

This system is followed up until the chicks leave the brooder house 
— when four to six weeks old, according to the time of the year. 

After that age they are given a grain ration of equal parts, by meas- 
ure, of cracked corn and wheat screenings, or wheat. Also, a mash of 
one part low-grade flour, with about one-twentieth part beef scraps, all 
by measure. 

Green bone is not fed at Niagara Farm, as it is claimed that after giv- 
ing both beef scraps and green bone careful trials the stock did better 
on the beef scraps, and considerable labor is saved by not being com- 
pelled to cut the bone, as is the case with green bone. 

From the time the chicks are three days old, up until they are placed 
on range, which is at the age of six or eight weeks, they are fed twice 
a day all the green feed they can consume. The green food is any kind 
of green stufT that is available, such as grass, rye, wheat, oats, corn, etc. 
It is cut up into one-eighth inch lengths, so the chicks can readily pick 
it up. 

In winter when it is difficult to get succulent green feed, cabbage, 
boiled potatoes, onions, beets, sprouted oats or ensilage is used. 

The grains and seeds fed the chicks are scattered among cut clover 
so that the little ones will be compelled to scratch and thus take exer- 
cise. Drinking water is allowed from the start, which is changed twice 
a day in winter and three times a day in summer. 

After the chicks are removed to the fireless brooders, the hard- 
boiled egg ingredient in the ration is dropped and beef scrap substi- 
tuted. After the first two weeks of age, the supply of hard-boiled egg 
is cut down to about one-half the quantity, and when beef scrap is sub- 
stituted the egg part is again lowered to about one-tenth to one-fifteenth. 



Feeding Chicks on Ran£(e 

When the chicks are placed on range, if hatched before the first of 
April, they are given a dry mash all the time: and grain, scattered, twice 
a day. The dry mash is composed of the same materials and propor- 
tions as given in a wet mash to younger chicks, while the grain ration 
is changed to two-thirds wheat and one-third corn. 

Chicks hatched after the first of April, when placed on range are 
given a mash of bran, middlings, cornmeal, flour and beef scraps. 

Herewith is given a copy of the schedule posted up in the feed 
room, showing proportions of each ingredient for a given number of 
pails or bushels : 



CURTISS POULTKY BOOK. 



Pails or Bushels 



3 


I 2-7 


4 


I 5-7 


5 


2 1-7 


b 


2 4-7 


7 


3 


8 


3 3-7 


9 


3 6-7 


10 


4 2-7 


II 


4 5-7 


12 


5 1-7 



Middlings 

1-7 

2-7 

3-7 
4-7 

5-7 
6-7 





5-21 




10-21 




15-21 




20-21 


I 


4-21 


I 


3-7 


I 


2-3 


I 


19-21 


2 


1-7 


2 


8-21 


2 


13-21 


2 


18-21 



Com meal 


lleef Scr 


1-7 


I-2I 


2-7 


2-21 


3-7 


1-7 


4-7 


4-21 


5-7 
6-7 


5-21 

6-21 


I 
I 1-7 


t-3 
8-21 


I 2-7 


3-7 


I 3-7 


10-21 


I 4-7 


11-21 


I 5-7 


13-21 



I 1-7 

I 2-7 

I 3-7 

I 4-7 

I 5-7 

Note. — Tlie solution of the above table is to reduce to quarts. For 
instance, a bushel contains thirty-two quarts, or a pail (three gallon) 
holds twelve quarts. 

Chicks on range are fed a soft wet mash mixed very dry for quick 
growth, or fed dry mash for slower growth, according to age of chick. 
Chicks intended for breeders are generally fed a dry mash, and those 
for market are given a wet mash. In the case of kite hatched chicks, 
a wet mash is fed to force growth. 

The point to be remembered, and which is closely followed at 
Niagara Farm, is this rule of proportions : In the start the chicks are 
fed a proportion of four parts of bran to one part of meal. Later in the 
season (about July) the start is made with two-thirds meal and one- 
third bran, and gradually lessening the meal and increasing the bran 
until the chicks are taken from the range and given laying food. The 
feed on range is about four 'of bran to one of meal. Niagara Farm is 
a great believer in bran as a chick feed. A box of dry bran is con- 
stantly before them. It being an excellent bone and niusclc food is 
gradually increased as the growth of the chick requires it. 

Dry bran is also an excellent bowel regulator, while wet bran has 
a strong tendency to produce bowel troubles in young chicks. Diar- 
rhoea is more or less rare among brooder chicks where dry bran is con- 
stantly kept before them, so that they can help themselves at will. 




The feed i.s .sent out on trucks to the stock on range, for whicf 
rei;;ular railway tracks are built 



26 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



Feeding the Breeding Stock 

The breeding fowls are fed a mash slightly moistened. It is placed 
in hoppers so the stock can help themselves at all times. All the grains 
fed are scattered over a territory as far as they can be broadcasted. 
The breeders are kept on range for about nine months of the year. 

A light grain feed is given in the morning, between the hours of 
seven and eight o'clock, and another grain feed between the hours of 
five and six in the afternoon. About two or three o'clock in the after- 
noon the hoppers are again refilled with a mash. 

The following table gives the formula for feeding the breeding and 
stock birds. The mash is fed wet, mixed very dry, when fertile eggs 
are wanted, and in case the eggs are intended for market purposes, the 
amount of beef scrap is doubled : 



shels 




Bran 


Floui- 




Meal 


Oatmeal 


Middlings 


( 


jieen 
Food 


Oilmeal 


Beef Scrap 


I 
2 




1-6 

1-3 


I-I2 
1-6 




1-6 

1-3 


I-I2 
1-6 


1-6 
1-3 




1-6 
1-3 


I-I2 
1-6 


I-I2 
1-6 


3 




1-2 


1-4 




1-2 


1-4 


1-2 




1-2 


1-4 


1-4 


4 
5 
6 




2-3 
5-6 


1-3 

5-12 

1-2 




2-3 
5-6 


1-3 
5-12 

1-2 


2-3 
5-6 

I 




2-2, 
5-6 


1-3 
5-12 

1-2 


1-3 
5-12 

1-2 


7 




1-8 


7-12 




1-6 


7-12 


I 1-6 




1-6 


7-12 


7-12 


8 




1-3 


2-3 




1-3 


2-3 


I 1-3 




1-3 


2-3 


2-3 


9 

lO 

II 




1-2 

2-3 
5-6 


3-4 
5-6 

II-I2 




1-2 

2-3 
5-6 


3-4 
5-6 

II-I2 


I 1-2 
I 2-3 

I 5-6 




1-2 

2-3 

5-6 


5-6 

II-I2 


5-6 

II-I2 



How Often to Feed 

The first two days the ducklings have a little feed left before them 
all the time, so they may help themselves at will. After that they are 
fed four times a day — at 5 o'clock and 9 o'clock in the morning, and at 
I o'clock and 5 o'clock in the evening. 

The young chicks are fed every two hours from 6 o'clock in the 
morning until 6 o'clock in the evening. This is kept up until the chicks 
are placed in the fireless brooders, when they are fed but four times 
a day, equal number of hours apart, beginning at 6 o'clock in the morn- 
ing and ending at 6 o'clock in the evening. After they go to the colony 
houses they are fed at 6 o'clock in the morning, and at noon, and in 
the evening from 4 to 6 o'clock, according to the time of the year, being 
governed by the time of sunset. 

When the chicks are removed to the fireless brooders, the numbe: 
of mashes are dropped to one, and the richness of the mash is de- 
creased. A rich mash is not again given until the young fowls are placed 
into laying quarters. 



A Couple of Feeding Wrinkles 

Niagara Farm has discovered the fact that by feeding March- 
hatched stock a light dry mash, composed of three parts bran, one part 
cornmeal, one part flour, with five per cent, beef scrap, they will not 
be so apt to go into molt in the fall, as when they are fed a wet mash. 
Pullets thus fed will, as a rule, begin laying in the fall. 

When cockerels are found that have a broad, flat rump, with no tail 
feathers, nor long legs, and not too much head, nor big comb and wat- 
tles, they have the requirements of a good roasting fowl, and are placed 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



27 




DUCKS AT NIAGARA FARM 

lustration shows the feeder attending to the wants ot one of the flocks of breeding dncks 
Kvervone has answered the roll call 



ill the duck fattening pens. The ducks waste considerable feed, and as 
their mash is of exceptional richness, the fowls grow very fast on it. 

When feeding time comes, the ducks rush to the troughs and gulp 
down a lot of feed, then rush for drinking water, then back again, and 
so on, all the time in this way dropping food and wasting it. While the 
ducks are thus feasting, the chickens in the pen stand back at a safe dis- 
tance awaiting a chance to get at the " remnants." After the ducks have 
finished, the chickens begin filling their crops to overflowing. The Cur- 
tisses say that they can fatten chickens in the duck pens in almost half 
the time that they can in any other way they ever tried. 



How the Ducks Are Fed 



When the ducklings are placed in the nursery, they are fed a mash 
composed of bran, flour, shredded wheat, oatmeal, cornmeal, beef scraps 
and clover, in proportions as explained in Formula No. i. The oatmeal 
mentioned is really oatmeal middlings, being the finer part of screened 
oatmeal. 

When taken from the nursery and placed in the brooder, the bill-of- 
fare changes, as is shown in Formula No. 2. If cut clover is given in- 
stead of green food, double the amount is allowed. 

After the ducklings arc placed in the cold brooder. Formula No. 3 
is given. 

When the. ducks attain the age of six weeks, they are placed in fat- 
tening pens, and for four or five weeks are given Formula No. 4. 
Niagara Farm several years ago discovered that they made a mistake 
when they changed the food in the middle of the fattening period. Since 
they feed no fattening food at all for the first six weeks, and then for 
four or five weeks give fattening food exclusively, they are able to pro- 
duce better carcasses in the entire flock. 

The amount of beef scrap mentioned in Formula No. 4 is correct if 



28 CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

bone soup is used to mix the feed. If not, then the quantity of beef 
scrap mentioned is doubled. 

This bone soup is made from green bone. For the purpose a large 
condensing tank is used, which has a capacity of twelve barrels. Steam 
is turned on all day, eighty pounds pressure, which reduces the bone 
to a fluid. The tank is filled half full of bone, and enough water added 
to cover within a foot of the top of the tank. 

It is a noted fact that ducks eat more than twice the amount of food 
at night that they do in the morning. Experiments show that a duck 
will consume on an average, eight ounces of mash in the morning, and 
twelve to twenty ounces at night. One hundred ducks will consume as 
much as seventy-five quarts of food a day. 

Formula No. I — Nursery Feed 



ails 


Bran 


Flour 


Shredded 
Wheat 


Oatmeal 


Cornmcal 


Beef 
Scrap 


Clover 


I 


1-5 


I-IO 


1-5 


I-IO 


1-5 


1-20 


3-20 


2 


2-5 


1-5 


2-5 


1-5 


2-5 


I-IO 


3-10 


3 


3-5 


3-10 


3-5 


3-IO 


3-5 


3-20 


9-20 


4 


4-5 


2-5 


4-5 


2-5 


4-5 


1-5 


3-5 


5 


I 


1-2 


I 


1-2 


I 


1-4 


3-4 


6 


I 1-5 


3-5 


I i-s 


3-5 


•I 1-5 


3-10 


9-10 


7 


I 2-5 


7-10 


I 2-5 


7-10 


I 2-5 


7-20 


I 1-20 


8 


I 3-5 


4-5 


1 3-5 


4-5 


I 3-5 


2-5 


I 1-5 


9 


I 4-5 


9-10 


I 4-5 


9-10 


I 4-5 


9-20 


I 7-20 



Formula No. 2 — Brooder Feed 



'ail 


s or Bushels 


Green 


Bran 


Flour 


Cornmeal 


Cracked 


Beef 






Feed 










Corn 


Scrap 




I 


1-4 


Z'l 


1-7 




3-28 


1-28 


1-28 




2 


1-2 


6-7 


2-7 




3-14 


I-I4 


I-I4 




3 


3-4 


I 2-7 


z-1 




9-28 


3-28 


3-28 




4 


I 


I 5-7 


4-7 




3-7 


1-7 


1-7 




5 


I 1-4 


2 1-7 


5-7 




15-28 


5-28 


5-28 




6 


I 1-2 


2 4-7 


6-7 




9-14 


6-28 


6-28 




/ 


I 3-4 


3 


I 




3-4 


1-4 


1-4 




8 


2 


3 2,-1 


I 1-7 




6-7 


2-7 


2-7 




9 


2 1-4 


3 6-7 


I 2-7 




27-28 


9-28 


9-28 




10 


2 1-2 


4 2-7 


I 3-7 




1-14 


5-14 


5-14 




II 


2 3-4 


4 5-7 


I 4-7 




5-28 


11-28 


11-28 




12 


3 


5 1-7 


I 5-7 




2-7 


3-7 


3-7 




13 


3 1-4 


5 4-7 


I 6-7 




11-28 


13-28 


13-28 




14 


3 1-2 


6 


2 




1-2 


1-2 


1-2 • 



Formula No. 3 — Cold Brooder Feed 



Ills or Bushels 


Green 


B 


ran 


Flour 


Cornmeal 


Cracked 


Beef Scrap 




Feed 














Corn 




I 


1-3 




1-3 




1-8 




1-8 


1-24 


1-24 


2 


2-3 




2-3 




1-4 




1-4 


I-I2 


I-I2 


3 


I 


I 






3-8 




3-8 


1-8 


1-8 


4 


I 1-3 


I 


1-3 




1-2 




1-2 


1-6 


1-6 


5 


I 2-3 


I 


2-3 




S-8 




5-8 


5-24 


5-24 


6 


2 


2 






3-4 




3-4 


1-4 


1-4 


7 


2 1-3 


2 


1-3 




7-8 




7-8 


7-24 


7-24 


8 


2 2-3 


2 


2-3 


I 




I 




1-3 


1-3 


9 


3 


3 




I 


1-8 


I 


1-8 


3-8 


3-8 


10 


3 1-3 


3 


1-3 


I 


1-4 


I 


1-4 


5-12 


5-12 



3 2-3 3 2-3 I 3-8 I 3-8 11-24 11-24 

A 4 I 1-2 I 1-2 1-2 1-2 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 29 

Formula No. 4 — Fattening Food 

Pails or Bushels Green Bran Low Grade Cornnieal Whole Corn Beef Scrap 

Feed Flour 

1 1-2 

2 I 

3 I 1-2 

4 2 

5 2 1-2 

6 3 

7 3 1-2 

8 4 

9 4 1-2 

10 5 

11 5 1-2 

12 6 

13 6 1-2 

14 7 

15 7 1-2 

16 8 

17 8 1-2 

18 9 

19 9 1-2 

20 10 

Formula No. 5 — Breeding Ducks Feed 



1-5 


3-40 


3-20 


1-20 


1-40 


2-5 


3-20 


3-10 


I-IO 


1-20 


3-5 


9-40 


9-20 


3-20 


3-40 


4-5 


3-10 


3-5 


1-5 


I-IO 




3-8 


3-4 


1-4 


1-8 


I 1-5 


9-20 


3-10 


3-10 


3-20 


I 2-5 


21-20 


I 1-20 


7-20 


7-40 


I 3-5 


3-5 


I 1-5 


2-5 


1-5 


I 4-5 


27-40 


I 7-20 


9-20 


9-40 


2 


3-4 


I 1-2 


1-2 


1-4 


2 1-5 


33-40 


I 13-20 


11-20 


11-40 


2 2-5 


9-10 


I 4-5 


3-5 


3-10 


2 3-5 


39-40 


I 19-20 


13-20 


13-40 


2 4-5 


I 1-20 


2 I-IO 


7-10 


7-20 


3 


I 1-8 


2 1-4 


3-4 


3-8 


3 1-5 


I 1-5 


2 2-5 


4-5 


2-5 


3 2-5 


I 11-40 


2 11-40 


17-20 


17-40 


3 3-5 


I 7-20 


2 7-10 


9-10 


9-20 


3 4-5 


I 7-40 


2 7-20 


19-20 


19-40 


4 


I 1-2 


3 


I 


1-2 



Pails or 


Cut Clover 


ISran 


Coinmeal 


Flour 


Oatmeal 


C^orn 


Beef Scrap 


Bushels 




















Mid. 






I 


2-5 




1-5 




3- 


20 




l-IO 




1-20 


1-20 


1-20 


2 


4-5 




2-5 




3- 


■10 




1-5 




I-IO 


I-IO 


I-IO 


3 


I 1-5 




3-5 




9- 


•20 




3-10 




3-20 


3-20 


3-20 


4 


I 3-5 




4-5 




3-5 




2-5 




1-5 


1-5 


1-5 


5 


2 




I 




3-4 




1-2 




1-4 


1-4 


1-4 


6 


2 2-5 




I 1-5 




9- 


-10 




3-5 




3-10 


3-10 


3-10 


7 


2 4-5 




I 2-5 




I- 


-20 




7-10 




7-20 


7-20 


7-20 


8 


3 i-S 




I 3-5 




I- 


■5 




4-5 




2-5 


2-5 


2-5 


9 


3 3-5 




I 4-5 




7- 


■20 




9-10 




9-20 


9-20 


9-20 


10 


4 




2 




I 


-2 








1-2 


1-2 


1-2 


II 


4 2-5 




2 1-5 




13- 


•20 




I-IO 




11-20 


11-20 


11-20 


12 


4 4-5 




2 2-5 




4-5 




1-5 




3-5 


3-5 


3-5 


13 


5 1-5 




2 3-5 




19 


-20 




3-10 




13-20 


13-20 


13-20 


14 


5 3-5 




2 4-5 


2 


I- 


-10 




2-5 




7-10 


7-10 


7-10 


15 


6 




3 


2 


I- 


-4 




1-2 




3-4 


3-4 


3-4 


16 


6 2-5 




3 1-5 


2 


2- 


■5 




3-5 




4-5 


4-5 


4-5 


17 


6 4-5 




3 2-5 


2 


II- 


-20 




7-10 




17-20 


17-20 


17-20 


18 


7 1-5 




3 3-5 


2 


7- 


-10 




4-5 




9-10 


9-10 


9-10 


19 


7 3-5 




3 4-5 


2 


17- 


-20 




9-10 




19-20 


19-20 


19-20 


20 


8 




4 


3 






2 




I 




I 


I 






Formula N 


fo. 


6 


— Stock 


Duck Feed 




Pails or 


Bushels 


Green B 


Iran 




Co 


rnmeal 


WhoL 


eCc 


H-n 1 


Flour Beef Scrap 






Feed 






















I 




1-2 


5-II 


6 




1-24 


I 


-24 




I-I2 


1-48 




2 


I 




5-8 






I-I2 


I- 


■12 




1-6 


1-24 




3 


I 


1-2 


i5-i( 


6 




1-8 


I- 


-8 




1-4 


1-16 




4 


2 


I 


1-4 






1-6 


I 


-6 




1-3 


1-12 




5 


2 


1-2 I 


9-L 


6 




5-24 


5-24 




5-12 


5-48 




6 


3 


I 


7-8 






1-4 


I- 


■4 




1-2 


1-8 




7 


3 


1-2 2 


3-1' 


6 




7-24 


7-24 




7-12 


7-48 




8 


4 


2 


1-2 






1-3 


I- 


-3 




2-3 


1-6 




9 


4 


1-2 2 


13-r 


6 




3-8 


3- 


-8 




3-4 


3-16 



30 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



10 


5 




3 


1-8 


5-1-2 


5-12 


5-6 


5-24 


II 


5 


1-2 


3 


7-i6 


11-24 


11-24 


11-12 


11-48 


12 


6 




3 


3--' 


1-2 


1-2 




1-4 


13 


6 


1-2 


4 


i-i6 


13-24 


13-24 1 


1-12 


13-48 


14 


7 




4 


3-8 


7-12 


7-12 I 


1-6 


7-24 


15 


7 


1-2 


4 


11-16 


15-24 


15-24 ] 


1-4 


5-16 


i6 


8 




5 




2-3 


^-3 ] 


1-3 


1-3 


1/ 


8 


1-2 


5 


5-16 


17-24 


17-24 


5-12 


17-48 


i8 


9 




5 


5-8 


3-4 


3-4 I 


1-2 


3-8 


19 


9 


1-2 


5 


15-16 


19-24 


19-24 


17-12 


19-48 


20 


10 




6 


1-4 


5-6 


5-6 


[ 2-3 


5-12 


21 


lO 


1-2 


6 


9-16 


21-24 


21-24 ] 


3-4 


7-16 


22 


II 




6 


7-8 


11-12 


11-12 


I 5-6 


11-24 


23 


II 


1-2 


7 


3-16 


23-24 


23-24 


11-12 


23-48 



24 




SECTION OF M'KSKRV AT MACARA FAKM 



Second lioor of laigre Inculjator House 
tirst ten day; 



Not le-.s than lifty thousand chicks e;t.ch season S|ieiid the 
if their life in this immense room 



Brooding the Chicks and Ducklings 



•The width of the pens in the chick brooder house (which is on the 
second floor of the large incubator building) is three feet, and the length 
twenty feet. These pens are arranged on both sides of the building, with 
an eight-foot alleyway. The heating is done by the old-style top heat 
pipe system, being a series of four one-and-a-quarter inch pipes — two 
flows and two returns. The hover is a twenty-inch square platform, with 
a three-inch hole bored in the center for ventilation. Fringe is hung on 
the four sides of the platform. As the hover is placed four inches from 
both the back and the sides, the chicks will not crowd, and should they 
become too warm can readil}^ get out into a more cool atmosphere. 

This second floor brooding house will hold 8.000 chicks at one time. 
On the outside of each brooding pen is erected a four-foot run, enclosed 
with wire netting. This run is practically a platform erected on the style 



CURTISS POULTKV BOOK. 



31 



of a roof garden, and so arranged that the chicks can al anj' time get 
out of doors into the open air and sunshine. 

All the windows open from bottom out, and are fastened by a long 
iron rod. The sash swinging out acts as a shield in case of rain storms, 
and at the same time the chicks are not deprived of the fresh air. 

The 30ung are kept in the heated brooders for from one to three 
weeks, according to the condition of the weather, and then they are 
trained to use the fireless brooders. This is done by placing a fireless 
brooder in the run of the heated brooder, up near the hover, and putting 
a board on each side of the brooder so the chicks cannot pass back to 
where there is heat. Being at practically the same spot to which they 
had become accustomed, they gradually learn to enter. In a few days 
there is no more trouble, and the chicks go over to the cold brooder. 

After making repeated experiments, Niagara Farm has learned the 
lesson that not only will three-fourths of the labor be saved, but the 
mortality will be considerably reduced by putting the chicks under heat 
for the first week or so of their life. There is nothing to prevent them 
from crowding, should they not be comfortable, and the newly-hatched 
chick, like the new-born babe, requires warmth more than it does food. 
When given this heat in the start, by the time they are removed to the 
fireless brooders they have developed in strength and body to such an 
extent that the animal heat generating in the {ireless brooder at once 
makes them comfortable. 

The Curtisses say that the method of using fireless brooders from the 
start is not practical. They admit it is possible to begin chicks in that 
way, but it requires too much watching and care the first ten days, and 
therefore find that it is much easier and better to allow artificial heat at 
the start for the first ten days in summer and spring, and from two to 
three weeks in winter. Artificial heat teaches the youngsters where to 
go to get warm, and once having learned the lesson they seem never to 
forget it. 

Where only a limited number of chicks are to be raised — say about 
fifty— it would hardly be necessary to purchase a heated brooder. In- 
stead a jug of hot water, or a heated brick or soapstone wrapped 
up in an old cloth to keep it from 
burning the chicks, and placed in the 
center of the fireless brooder, two 
or three times a day for the first 
week, will answer the purpose very 
well. After that no artificial heat 
will be needed. Care must be taken 
not to use very many cushions on top 
while artificial heat is employed. 
Sho'uld the brooder be placed in a 
heated room. no cushions are 
needed, just the burlap on frame in- 
side the brooder that bags down on 
the chicks' backs. When the arti- 
ficial heat is taken away, more cush- 
ions must be used to retain the heat 
of the chicks' body. 

One very important matter in 
brooding is to clean out the boxes 
at least twice a week, and three 
times would be better. Clean and 
disinfect the runs, boxes, etc., after 
each batch of chicks and spray in- 
side of boxes with kerosene oil twici 
a month. 

The ducklings are brooded in pens piowiNr 

four to five feet in width, and twelve „,, ., . , ^ , ',„'', 

f„„, .• 1 .1 „„„..j; !-„ iU„ - „. 1 he sou in ihe Chick Runs IS kept loose. Ibis 

feet m length, aCCOlding to the age is done by means of a hand-plow, keeping 

of the young. a man busy the entire season 




CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 33 

The cold brooders for the chicks consist of a series of forty-four 
separate houses, butting against each other. Each house measures six 
by eight feet, large enough for fifty chicks in a flock. Here they are 
placed when about five weeks old. In front of each house is a yard 
thirty by six feet. These yards are being continually plowed up by a 
small Planet, Jr., hand plow*, so that the soil will be loose and the chicks 
can readily scratch in it. 

This plowing, too. has an advantage in disinfecting the soil, by turn- 
ing under the excrement, and throwing up clean, pure ground. After 
the season is over, these yards are planted to a green crop like rye, and 
thus the soil is again sweetened for another season, besides a crop of 
needed green food is raised. 

One of the secrets of the success of Niagara Farm is that they allow 
nothing to be idle, but make even the soil vield them an income. 



Feathering and Molting 

As has been the experience of all breeders of Leghorn fowls, the 
chicks very rapidly develop wing feathers. It is common to have them 
grow so fast that the strength of the chick is fairly drawn from the body, 
and in consequence the wings droop and the chicks becomes weak. Every 
effort possible was made on Niagara Farm to counteract this trouble, but 
without avail. Finally clipping the tips of the wing feathers of the 
chicks, when three or four days old, was resorted to, and it worked like 
a charm. It proved that this had a tendency to send the strength back 
to the body, or rather, keep it there, and, coupled with the fact that the 
mash given is of a very rich order, it helped the youngsters over that 
fatal period. 

The general richness of the mash has also a wonderful effect in 
feathering the Wyandottes and the Plymouth Rocks. 

The molting period usually lasts about three months. August is the 
beginning of the period for the younger fowls, while with the older ones 
it seldom begins for a month or two later, according to age. 

On Niagara Farm they aim to start the molting process in July, so 
that the fowls may be through with it by the first of September. The 
breeding stock at this time are on free range, and, beginning in July the 
mash and grain feeding is discontinued. This compels the fowls to 
depend entirely on what green food and bugs they can find. Naturally 
this gets them into a thin condition. As soon as it is noticed that indi- 
vidual specimens of the flock act w^cak. the feeding is resumed, allowing 
only a small quantity at first, and gradually increasing until the amount 
of full feed is reached. This method, Niagara Farm has found, hastens 
the shedding of the feathers, the new growth starts, and the hens are 
ready for late fall and winter laying. 

The breeding ducks are fed on a rich mash until feathered, when 
they are given a light one. 

How Green Feed Is Supplied 

The Curtiss people have great faith in green food. It is the most 
important part of their bill-of-fare. All kinds of greens that are available 
are given in season, especially green clover and other grasses, and dur- 
ing the winter the main reliance is cut clover hay. 

Every fall they sow large fields of wheat and rye. The rye grows 
the fastest, making green feed earlier in spring, which is mowed and fed 
as soon as it is of sufficient height. By the time the rye becomes too 
coarse, the wheat is in proper condition for cutting. 

Oats are sown in early spring, and this comes up and is ready for 
cutting by the time the wheat is too ripe for green food. After the oats 



34 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



follows fodder corn, and this lasts until frost comes, when the cut clover 
hay is substituted and fed until green feed comes again in spring. 

On the range occupied bj' the chicks, corn is previously planted, 
and when it has grown to about a foot in height, the chicks are placed 
in the field. Here they not only have a lot of insects to feast upon, but, 
naturally, an endless amount of small weeds grow up which furnishes 
them excellent tender greens. The shade made by the corn is a decided 
advantage to the chicks, and they, in return, furnish the crop with 
manure. This plan Niagara Farm has tried for a number of years, and 
they find it far better than their former plan of placing the chicks in the 
meadow. The youngsters grow faster, stay in a more vigorous condi- 
tion, and the loss is very small. Fruit trees are now being planted in 
this field, which will make it possible to grow three crops upon the same 
area — chickens, corn and fruit. 

Colonizing and Mating the Stock Birds 

The laying hens are quartered on range, in flocks of 1,500 to 2,000 
in a flock. There are two rows of houses used, the houses being about 
two rods apart. Between each row there is a distance of twenty rods. 
All told, there are two hundred colony houses on the farm. 

During the winter the eggs are gathered three times a day, but only 
once a day during the summer time. 




LAYING TIME AT NIAGARA lAKM 

The nests in the Colony Houses on Niagara Farm are crude aflfairs, but they are nearly 

alwai s filled by busy workers 



In White Wyandottes and White Plymouth Rocks, where exhibition 
stock is desired, special matings are made, according to vigor of the 
male bird, giving him from eight to a dozen females. 

Those fowls that are on ranee are generally mated at the rate of a 
male for every fifteen or eighteen females. For Leghorns, from twenty- 
five to thirty females are allowed each male. 

The fowls intended for breeding or exhibition stock have a range in 
a large woods. Being sheltered from the direct rays of the sun they 
keep a much whiter color. 

In all the houses, for both old and young stock, which includes both 
chickens and ducks, planer shavings are used in place of straw bedding, 



36 CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

which, it is claimed, are not only cheaper, but serve the same purpose as 
does the straw. 

In spring the breeding ducks have a range of about twenty acres. 
The matings run from thirty ducks and five drakes to flocks of three 
hundred ducks and fifty drakes. During the winter the breeding ducks 
are mated at the rate of one to si.x; that is, one drake to six ducks. At 
times, when the flocks are large, trouble will arise between the drakes, 
and then it becomes necessary to take out a few drakes from the ffock, 
leaving about a drake to eight or nine ducks. This generally cuts out 
about seventy-five per cent, of the ruptured eggs. A ruptured egg is 
one that shows a blood ring in the egg. 

It is a rule on Niagara Farm never to use a two-year-old duck for 
breeding. In every case they use the young stock. Experience has 
taught them that to get good fertility they must not use kept-over ducks, 
as they fatten too readily; besides, a young duck will begin laying two or 
three weeks earlier than will an old one. These old ducks, as soon as 
they are done laying, which is about July or August, are sold alive to 
the Polish and Italian settlements of nearby cities. Some of them, how- 
ever, are also sold, dressed, to second-class hotels. 

Lanterns are hung each night in the different duck yards. This has 
a wonderful effect in keeping them quiet. Instead of the lanterns, how- 
ever, electric lights are about being installed. In fact, they will not only 
be placed in the duck yards, but in the various lanes and paths on the 
farm, and in all the buildings, a convenience that will be exceptionally 
valuable. 

When ducks are in the dark, they are apt to stampede, becoming 
frightened at any noise or object, and when in this excitement they send 
out a deafening cry. It can be imagined the racket the thousands of 
ducks on Niagara Farm would make. 



o " i- 

Is-" 




38 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



How the Breeding Stock Is Reared 

Each year considerable stock of Wyandottes, Plymouth Rocks and 
Leghorns are hatched and reared for special matings, so that the fowls 
can be used for breeding purposes. In order that there may be no 
chance for getting them mixed they hatch and raise these chicks by hens. 

For this purpose rows of outdoor box nests are made, to which 
partly shaded runs — twelve feet long and about two feet wide — are at- 
tached. After the hen has hatched her young, the nesting material is 
removed and the box acts as a coop for the hen and her brood. In 
these runs the hen and the chicks are kept until about four weeks old, 
when they are taken out on range. When a few days old they are 
marked by a numbered punch, making the figure I, 2, 3 or 4 in the web 
of the foot. The number represents the mating the eggs came from. 
In this way males from the one lot can be crossed on females from 
another lot without any chance of inbreeding. 

Two young men are employed to attend to this work. They must 
not only feed and water, but keep the place clean and attend to every 
detail. In order to have them take a deep interest in the work, and 
that it may be thoroughly done, they are offered a bonus for good per- 
formance. This they get in addition to their regular salary. For in- 
stance, a certain bonus is given for every fifty head raised, and a special 
bonus for any number over five hundred chicks that are handed over to 
the range. Guineas are a sort of " by-product," and as they are more 
or less difificult to grow, these boys get a good bonus for every hundred 
that they are able to get beyond the danger stage, or, in other words, 
that become fully feathered. 



How the Breeding Ducks Are Selected 



In order to secure a thousand standard breeding ducks, considerable 
and careful selection is required. About one duck in ten will pass muster 

as a breeder. 

The standard set down on Niagara 
Farm for a breeder is that it must 
be broad in the breast, broad in the 
back, deep in the keel, not too large 
in head and neck, medium length in 
body, and sharp and quick in eye. 

When the selection is about being 
made, W. Roy Curtis, who has 
charge of that part of the work, has 
a lot of ducks driven in a small en- 
closure. Opposite him are two un- 
occupied yards. Those that come up 
to the requirements are placed in 
the one yard, and those that fail in 
the examination are placed in the 
other yard. 

That work being finished, an inter- 
esting event takes place. A flock 
of from two to three hundred of the 
selected ducks are slowly driven a 
half mile across the farm to a 
woods. It is a hard pull for them, 
and the drive is a slow one. But, 
notwithstanding that they are not 
Great care is taken in the selection of hurried, every now and then a duck 

''X'^'^^^^^-^^^^^^"^ will drop by'the wayside, all gone 
a regular standard HI the Icgs. It IS allowed to remain 




CUKTISS I'OUf.TRV ROOK. 39 

while the stronger ones continue the march. It is a case of survival of 
the fittest. Those ducks that are able to stand the trip prove their 
strength, a f|ualification so necessary for producing good offsjiring. From 
twenty-five to fifty from each Hock are unable to stand the journey. 

Upon the return of the men, they pick up the stragglers and place 
them in the fattening pens. 









^S 


^^^H 




"^•, ._ 


^^fl 


^^H 


^^^^Hhi^'v 


■aki^l 


wM 



EGCS RK.MJY FOR THE INCUBATORS 
It is the rule to have eggs as near a size, color, age and shape as possible 



How Fertile Eggs Are Secured 

The eggs produced on Niagara Farm show a very large percentage 
of fertility. This is pointed out in the record of hatches referred to in 
another part of this book. 

All the birds are kept on free range during early spring and sum- 
mer, near a running stream of water, in movable colony houses. In 
winter these houses are drawn up from the back of the farm and placed 
near the home buildings. 

The fowls are never confined to their houses summer nor winter, and 
under this treatment (together with good feed and good care) the eggs 
are exceptionally fertile and produce strong, hardy chicks that come out 
in the incubators with a kick and are bound to live, thrive and make 
good hardy layers for next season. 

The Curtisses are great believers in following nature. While they 
are opposed to fowls roosting outdoors at night on tree limbs, shed 
roofs, fences, etc., at the same time they strongly believe and know that 
for health and good returns, poultry must have a constant supply of 
fresh air. Their favorite house is built after the Tolman plans, which 
is a deep house with an open front, the hens roosting in the rear away 
from direct winds and protected from drafts. 

They claim, and rightly too, that hens shut up in houses, with hardly 
a chance to get a breath of fresh air, are sure to become sickly, and 
unhealthy stock certainly cannot produce profitable offspring, nor can 
there be good fertility to the eggs. 

Furthermore, they believe that the houses should not only be kept 
perfectly clean, but should be free from all bad odors, not merely for 
the agreeableness to persons compelled to be more or less about them, 
but particularly for the fowls' health. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 4I 

For that reason they have dispensed with dropping boards under the 
roosts. They state that where a large number of fowls are quartered in 
a building, the droppings of the night on these boards is considerable, 
and, as 'the boards are always placed only about six inches below the 
roosts, the fowls are compelled to breathe this bad odor the entire night. 

Instead they have the roosts about four feet from the floor, and 
planer shavings are scattered thickly underneath, which holds the drop- 
pings and which they can readily clean up. 

After testing this plan for several years they are satisfied that it 
prevents considerable sickness, inasmuch as there is not so much possi- 
bility of the bad odor reaching the stock— at least not in a very strong 
state. 

The Curtisses are also ."Treat advocates of exercise. The chicks as 
well as the hens are compelled to scratch among light litter for their 
grain feed. The grain fed the chickens and fowls on range is broad- 
casted so that they must be constantly on the move in order to find 
something to eat. They are busy from feeding time to feeding time, for 
there is always more or less grain to be found when it is widely scat- 
tered. 

The breeding ducks get their exercise in the creek that runs through 
their pens. Bathing is about the only real exercise they can get, as 
ducks cannot scratch like land fowls. 

Of course those ducks being reared for market are not allowed 
near the water, as it would reduce them in flesh and would be unprofit- 
able. The object with market ducks is to put on all the weight possible. 

Exercise puts the blood in good condition, it hardens the muscles, 
sharpens the appetite, and digests the food. All these are requisites for 
good, strong fertile eggs. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



43 



Killing, Dressing and Shipping 

The secret of tlie Muxess ol' the Niagara Farm is mainly due to the 
fact that it is so i)laniied that there is always something on sale. Every 
da}', excepting Saturdays and Sundays, a shipment of some kind is made. 
More than one-half of all the shipments by express from Ransomville 
Station are, from the Curtiss farm. 

It requires 3,500 head of broilers, roasters and spring ducklings each 
week to meet the demands of the regular trade. 

From twenty to thirty women arc employed every day. excepting 
Saturdays and Sundays, at dressing ducklings, roasters and broilers for 
market. At the time of the writer's visit about 2,000 ducklings were 
being dressed in a week, but before the close of the summer season it 
is intended to butcher not less than 2,500 a week. During the month of 
July about five hundred squab broilers were dressed weekly, and for 
the month of .\ugust it is necessary to double that mimber, as the de- 
mand from the summer resorts increases. 

The record weight of dressed ducks in one day was nearly two tons. 

Killing Chickens 

The broilers and roasting fowls are killed in the regulation way. 
They are dry-picked, so that the natural firmness of the flesh remains, 
and they will keep in better condition when shipped. After having al- 
lowed them to fast for from twelve to twenty-four hours, so that noth- 
ing will remain in the crop to sour, the feet of the fowl is fastened to 
a stout cord suspended from a rafter, and the wings locked, that the 
birds may not flutter. The head is grasped by the left hand, and a 
sharp-pointed knife is thrust in the mouth, severing the jugular vein, 
and shoved up into the brain. The stab is made in the center of the 
mouth, between the eyes and ears. The knife is then drawn from the 
side to the center on each side at top or roof of mouth. All this was 
done in less time than it takes to tell it. 




DRESSING POULTKV AT NIAGARA I'ARM 

Twenty-live women are employed every day (save Saiurday and Sunday) 
dressing fowls for market 



44 CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

While the bird is being killed, the operator takes it under his left 
arm, and the mouth is held open with the fingers of the left hand. At 
once the feathers of the breast are removed, then those of the neck, 
followed by those of the back, the tail, the wings, and finally those on 
the legs. As soon as the long feathers are removed the women pickers 
begin their work, and before the carcass has time to get cold, it is bare 
of all feathers. 

After the women have completed their part, the carcass is examined, 
and then given its first bath in cold water, to which a little salt has been 
added. After remaining in the water for some time, the clotted blood 
is removed from the mouth of the chicken, and the carcass is placed 
in another tub of clean, cold water. 

The carcasses are then shipped in boxes and barrels (according to 
the size of the order), packed in ice. 




DUCK KILLING AT NIAGARA FARM 

Two rows ot ducklings are hung up at a lime, securely fastened by wire, and the 
" executioner " does his deadly work in a very few minutes 



Killing Ducks 

When ready to kill ducks, two rows of eight each are hung up by 
means of a wire hook fastened to each leg. A long piece of wire is then 
drawn through the nostrils of the eight ducks and fastened to each up- 
right post of the scafifold, in which way the ducks are kept quiet in the 
proper position. 

This is considered an improvement over the old style of fastening a 
weight, by means of a piece of wire, to the nostrils of each duck. Un- 
derneath this scafifold is a large trough four feet wide, six feet long, 
and one foot deep, to catch the blood and the feathers. 

The ducklings are then stabbed in the mouth, the blade penetrating 
the brain, very much on the style used for killing the broilers and the 
roasters. For the purpose of killing the ducks, a butcher's knife is 
used. The ducklings are then scalded and at once picked. Shipment is 
made in the same manner as with other poultry. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 45 



The Baby Chick Trade 

Hatching and shipping baby chicks is one of the specialties at 
Niagara Farm. Thousands of these are turned out and sold during the 
season of early spring to way late in summer. On the occasion of the 
writer's visit, a single shipment of 2,000 chicks was made in lots of fifty 
to several hundred, to points in Virginia, Illinois, New York, Maryland 
and Michigan. 

The shipments are made in corrugated pasteboard boxes, with cor- 
rugated pasteboard pads placed in the bottom of each box. Each box 
has from one to four compartments, measuring eight and a quarter by 
ten inches each, in which twenty-six chicks are snugly packed. In these 
boxes a lot of holes are punched, on the top and the sides, to admit air. 
The boxes are so strong that they will bear the weight of a man weigh- 
ing two hundred pounds. 

Where more than one hundred chicks go to the same party in one 
shipment, the boxes are placed in carriers. 

Each box and carrier is labelled "Lire Chickens" in large red let- 
ters, so that there can be no misunderstanding as to the contents. 

This branch of the business of Niagara Farm has grown so that two 
large incubators have been ordered (7,500 egg capacity each) in addi- 
tion to one of the same size they now operate, to help meet the grow- 
ing demand for the day-old youngsters. 

The fact that little chicks just hatched should not be fed for the 
first forty-eight to seventy-two hours, gives a splendid opportunity to 
ship at that age without having to feed or water in transit. W. Jay Cur- 
tiss has full charge of the incubators, and personally oversees this de- 
partment. His experience covers the past twenty years, he having 
operated nearly all the different makes of incubators with varied success. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 47 

The Income 

The income of Niagara Farm is derived as follows : About two 
thousand head of slock, consisting of Sing'le Comb White Leghorns. 
White Wyandottes and White Plymouth Rocks are kept for breeding 
purposes. From these were produced and sold during the 1910 season, 
a little over 60,000 day-old chicks, which brought, up to April ist, 
twenty-five cents apiece; during April, twenty cents; during May, fifteen 
cents; and during June and July, ten cents each. This gave an average 
of a fraction over fifteen cents per head for the day-old chicks during 
the season. 

Besides, 20,000 eggs were sold for hatching purposes, being mostly 
disposed of in lots of fifty, one hundred, two hundred, five hundred, 
and even as high as five thousand, at an average price of six dollars per 
hundred. 

In addition to the baby chicks, from 10,000 to 15,000 chicks are 
raised, of which half go to the market as squab broilers or roasters, and 
the rest are either kept for breeding purposes or are sold as such. 

During the season, the squab-broilers, eight ounces in weight, 
dressed, average fifty cents each in price, and the soft roasters run from 
a dollar to a dollar and a half each, dressed. 

The Wyandottes, as roasters, are marketed at from five and a half 
to six and a half pounds, dressed weight, and the White Plymouth Rocks 
at from seven to nine pounds. The prices range from eighteen to thirty 
cents per pound. 

The squab-broilers are produced from the Leghorn stock. Niagara 
Farm does not grow the regular sized broilers (weighing from one and 
a quarter to two pounds each, dressed) for the reason that they find it 
more profitable to put extra weight on the carcasses and grow them to 
soft roaster size. 

A limited private egg trade is supplied in winter, but the Curtisses 
do not cater to it, as they deem it a better business move to turn into 
table poultry such eggs that are not sold for hatching. 

From 2,000 to 5,000 head of breeding stock, of all varieties, are sold 
in one year. 

. As near as can be estimated, it costs about one dollar per head per 
year to feed the Wyandottes and Plymouth Rocks but the Leghorns 
are kept for about seventy-five cents per year. It would not be possible 
to keep the stock at those prices were it not for the fact that Niagara 
Farm buys all its feed in carload lots. They estimate that the sale of 




^""''''-■"'^' l''^15V CHICKS AT NIAGARA FARM 
1 wenty-five bright day-old chicks are placed in each compar.men, ,he illus.ra.i, 
showing one hundred ready for the trip 'Hustratr 



CURTISS POULTRY P.OOK. 49 

the Leghorn cockerels as squab-broilers aliout pays for the feed of the 
Leghorn pullets up to laying age. 

These squab-broilers do not exceed ihree-cpiarters of a pound, when 
dressed, and sell best during the months of January and February. 
They are grown in from eight to ten weeks in brooders, kept in a room 
where the temperature is about seventy degrees. The shipments of 
these small broilers are made to clubs, high-class restaurants and hotels 
in large cities and summer resorts. This branch of the business is car- 
ried on throughout the year, although prices drop in the summer and 
fall. 

Advice to Beginners 

The Niagara Farm had a small beginning. There was plenty of 
territor}^ to work, but there was a serious lack of working capital. Con- 
sequently they had to go more or less in debt, but as the income war- 
ranted they would "pay on account," until finally they got rid of their 
burden. The Curtiss boys were progressive, they were wideawake, they 
did things at the right time, and always aimed to " never put of? until 
to-morrow what should be done to-day." 

At first their knowledge of the poultry business was rather meagre. 
They studied the authorities, then they worked the problems themselves. 
They realized that the more experience they secured the easier would be 
the work. 

From the start they worked by system. No time, room, feed or 
anything was wasted after they once saw a way to improvement. They 
made good plans and good rules, and they strictly obeyed them. 

The Curtiss boys were ambitious, they were energetic, they were 
alive to all matters. The repetition of each day's work did not tire 
them. It has been this growing " tired feeling " that has sunk too many 
promising enterprises. 

They make it a rule now to invest their profits in real estate, in- 
stead of " living up to it." They want to save what they earn, and their 
holdings in real estate are already giving them a good income inde- 
pendent of the business. 

The Curtisses give this advice to beginners: 

Begin in a small way; study and investigate: don't over-estimate 
your capacity — keep within bounds. Don't try to walk before you can 
crawl. Keep out of debt as much as possible, and what must be had on 
credit should be repaid at the very first opportunity. 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 5 1 

It was a joke with the elder Mr. Curtiss when hi.s son Roy suggested 
" going into the pouUry business." So much of a joke that he agreed 
to buy all the feed — our readers know how he subsequently crept out 
of that barsjain. and all owing to Rov's ambition. 

■' If any one had told me twenty years ago that my sons were going 
to build up the business they have. I would not have believed him." the 
elder Mr. Curtiss remarked to the writer. 

W. Jay Curtiss is very enthusiastic over the future of the poultry 
business. " It is growing with wonderful strides." he said. " and as 
fast as the supply grows the demand increases." 

Asked what he thought was the keynote of their success, he said: 

" First, always havine something to sell, thus creating a regular in- 
come. Second, always aimmg to have choice goods, thus securing the 
best, or fancy, trade. Third, being punctual in filling orders so that 
shipments can be depended upon. Fourth, systematizing the work so 
that it will b"b readily and more easily performed." 

There are men for all do]iartmcnts. and the head of each department 
has full charge and responsibility. RcL'ularity is an important rule, and 
it is followed carefully. A time is set for all things, and punctually 
everything, even to the smallest detail, is attended to. 

" We could fill a book with a record of the mistakes we made." said 
W. Roy Curtiss. " and I often wonder how. in view of the blunders, we 
ever managed to do as well as we did. 

"We made blunders in feeding, yes. many of them — and in this par- 
ticular we suffered heavy loss. We made blunders in management: we 
made blunders in housing: in fact, we were continually heaping up our 
mistakes." 

Roy kept a diary, and in it each day he noted everything of import- 
ance that happened on the farm. In that way he was able to steer clear 
of such stumbling-blocks as cost time and money. 

The lessons taught were varied — the importance of green food and 
fresh water, and pure grains; the value of keeping the premises clean; 
and the advisability of being punctual and regular. 

The beginner should start with a single variety, and not only study 
how to house, how to feed, and how to care for his fowls, but he should 
become acquainted with the habits and traits of his stock. He should 
study their egg yield as well as their ability to produce good table poul- 
try. He should know the breed thoroughly, and increase the numbers 
of his flock as his knowledge of them increases. In that way he will be 
best fitted to take on the business on a larger scale. 



52 CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 

Then, should the trade call for something that he is unable to pro- 
duce with his breed, it is time to add another variety, as did the Curtiss 
brothers. 

" The beginner should always be sure he is right before he goes 
ahead," is a maxim that ought to be cherished. If it was good enough for 
Niagara Farm it certainly should be good enough for those who are 
entering the ranks. 



Index 



Page 

A 

Adding moisture 19 

Advice to beginners 49 

An experienced guide 8 

Annual sales V 

Artificial heat 31 

B 

Barred Plymouth Rock 14 

Bathing carcass 44 

Bedding, straw 34 

Beef scrap 27 

Bone cutter 12 

Bone soup 28 

Bowel regulator 26 

Bran 24 

Breeding ducks 33, 36 

Breeding ducks feed formula 29 

Breeding ducks, standard 38 

Breeding stock, feeding 26 

Breeding stock, formulae 26 

Breeding stocks, selling 10 

Breeding stock sold 47 

Broilers 22 

Broilers sold 47 

Brooder feed formula 28 

Brooder house, duck 11 

Brooding pens 30 

c 

Card record 21 

Cellar floor, sprinkling 19 

Charcoal 24 

Chestnut soil 11 

Cleaning brooder boxes 31 

Cleaning lamps 17 

Cleanliness 39 

Clipping tips of wings 33 

Clover seeds 24 

Coal consumed 12 

Cold brooders 27, 33 

Cold brooder feed formula 28 

Colonizing stock birds 34 

Colony houses 11 

Cooling eggs 19 

Corn meal 24 

Cost of feeding per head 47 

Cracked corn 24 

D 

Day old chicks sold 47 

Demand for small ducks 15 

Diary 51 

Disinfecting incubators 22 

Dressing carcass 44 

Drinking water 24 

Driving breeding ducks 38 

Dropping boards 41 

Dry bran 25 

Dry picking 43 

Duck brooder house 11 

Duck egg yield 'I'l 

Duck fattening shed 11 

Duck pond 41 

Duck suppl}', winter 15 

Ducks, laying season 22 

Ducks, Pekin 14 

Ducks, raising 10 

Ducks, breeding 33, 36 



Paqk 
£ 

Educating the trade 10 

Egg testing booths 18 

Eggs, cooling 19 

Eggs, hard-boiled 24 

Eggs, securing fertile 39 

Eggs sold 47 

Eggs, turning 17 

Eggs, white shelled 14 

Exercise 41 

Experience of Curtiss boys 49 

Extra tray method 17 

F 

Family trade 10 

Farm products 14 

Fattening food formula 29 

Fattening shed, ducks 11 

Feathering and molting 33 

Feeding baby chicks 45 

Feeding breeding stock 26 

Feeding chicks 22 

Feeding chicks on range 24 

Feeding cost 47 

Feeding ducks 27 

Feeding wrinkles 26 

Feed fonnulae 28, 29 

Feed mixers 12 

Feed schedule 25 

Feed storehouse 11 

Feed time 26 

Feed warehouse 12 

Filling lamps 17 

Fireless brooders 26 

First te?t of eggs 19 

Floor space 11 

Formula for breeding stock 26 

Free range 39 

Fresh air 39 

Fringe 30 

Future of business 51 

G 

Gathering eggs 34 

Grain elevator 11 

Green bone 24 

Green corn 34 

Green food 24, 33 

Green oats 33 

Green rye 33 

Green wheat 33 

Grit 24 

Guineas 38 

H 

Hard-boiled eggs 24 

Hastening molting period 33 

Hatching report 21 

Hatching rules 22 

Heat, artificial 31 

Heating brooder 30 

Hogan system 14 

Hotel trade 11 

Hover 30 

I 

Ice house 11 

Ice pond 11 

Income 47 



CURTISS POULTRY BOOK. 



55 



Page 

Incubator cellar 11, 13 

Incubator operation 17 

Incubators 13 

Incubators, disinfecting 22 

Indian Runner Ducks 15 

K 

Keynote of success 51 

Killing chickens 43 

Killing ducks 44 

Killing room 12 

L 

Lamps, cleaning 17 

Lamps, filling 17 

Lamps, trimming 17 

Lanterns in duck yard 36 

Laving season for ducks 22 

Light litter 41 

Litter 41 

M 

Machinery 12 

Marking shipping boxes 45 

Marking the hatches 38 

Mash 24 

Ma«h, soft wet 25 

Mating stock birds 34 

Methods of operation 17 

Meat chopper 12 

Moisture, adding 19 

Molting period 33 

Myers pump 12 

N 

Nests, outdoor box 38 

Niagara Poultry Farm 7 

Number of assistants 17 

Number of customers 11 

Nurserj' feed formula 28 



Oat Meal li 

Office buildings 12 

Oil used 17 

Operating incubators 17 

Operation methods 15 

Outdoor box nests 38 

P 

Pekin Ducks 14 

Picker house la 

Planer shavings 41 

Plowing runs 33 

Policy of chicken farming 7 

Prices received 15 

Products of farm 14 

Profits in retail trade 10 

Pumps 12 

R 

Raising ducks 10 

"Ranging breeding birds 34 



Page 

Rang:ing exhibition birds 34 

Rearing breeding stock 38 

Record cards 21 

Report of hatching 21 

Result of liatch 19 

Retail trade, profits 10 

Rule of proportions 25 

Rules for success 49 

Rules in hatching 22 

Runs 30 

Runs, plowing 33 

s 

Schedule of feed 25 

Securing fertile eggs 39 

Selecting breeding ducks 38 

Selling breeding stock 10 

Shipping 44 

Shipping baby chicks 4 5 

Size of farm H 

Soft wet mash 25 

Sprinkling floor of cellar 19 

Squab broilers 49 

Smith meat chopper 12 

Standard for breeding ducks 38 

Stock birds, colonizing 34 

Stock birds, mating 34 

Stock duck feed formula 29 

Story of the farm 9 

Straw bedding 34 

T 

Telephones 13 

Temperature 21 

Testing duck eggs 19 

The incubator cellar 13 

Time to feed 26 

Timothy seeds 24 

Trade, educating the 10 

Trade, family 10 

Trade, hotel" 11 

Trimming lamps 17 

Turning eggs 17 

V 

Varieties selected 14 

Ventilation 13 

Ventilator holes 13 

w 

Water, drinking 24 

Water system '. . . . 12 

Wheat, screenings 24 

When to hatch 22 

White shelled eggs 14 

White Wyandottes 14 

Wilson bone cutter 12 

Windows 31 

Wing feathers 33 

Winter duck supply 15 

AVinter egg trade 47 

Women employed 43 

Work shop . ." 12 



A LIST OF THE 

Remarkable Booklets 

PUBLISHED BY THE 

WILMER ATKINSON CO. 



POULTRY SECRETS : First published in 1908, this collection of the carefully- 
guarded secrets of famous poultrymen created a sensation in poultry circles. 
Every secret is valuable and every one has passed severe tests of its useful- 
ness. 64 pages, illustrated. 12th Edition, 75th thousand. 

HORSE SECRETS : Compiled and written by Dr. A. S. Alexander, of 
Wisconsin, the eminent veterinarian Exposes the swindling methods of 
"gyps" and crooked dealers. Also many feeding and fattening secrets 
Invaluable to horse buyers and owners. 64 pages, illustrated. 6th Edition, 
5 5 til thousand. 

HOLDEN'S CORN SECRETS: A new booklet by Prof. Holden, the 
great authority on corn growing. Tells how the country's corn crop could 
and should be increased 20 bushels to the acre. The only complete corn 
book Holden has ever written. 90 pages, profusely illustrated. 

THE MILLION EGG FARM : Describing the enormous l)usiness and plant 
of y. M. Foster's Rancocas Farm, where 20,000 laying hens are producing 
between 2, coo, coo and 3,000,000 eggs for market this year. Written 
'specially for beginners. 80 pages, illustrated. 

glOO.OOO PER YEAR FROM POULTRY: See preceding pages. 

GARDEN GOLD: A new booklet written for people with small gardens, show- 
ing how to raise your own vegetables in these days of high prices, and 
SAVE money. And how to MAKE money by selling your surplus. 
Splendid for people with back yards only. 64 pages, illustrated. 

HALF A TON OF BUTTER PER COW PER YEAR: Seven cows in 
America have reached this amazing record. Fr'"f. Van Pelt of Iowa 
tells how it was done, how dairymen can largely increase their butter yield, 
and in many cases equal the famous seven. 48 pages, illustrated. 

SHALL I FARM ? For city people trying to decide whether or not to go to 

the country. No golden promises, but a clear, impartial, unbiased, 
unprejudiced weighing of the subject. All the advantages and disadvant- 
ages of all kinds of farming plainly set forth. Nothing like it ever before 
printed. 56 pages. 

All of these booklets are similar to this. The price of each, to Farm Journal 
subscribers only, is 

25 cents, Postpaid 

To others they are sold only with a subscription, $1.00 for one copy of the booklet, 
with Farm Journal four full years. 

Address : 

WILMER ATKINSON CO., Philadelphia. Pa. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



ili''INl^illi'. ' II:, ilnllii^ 

002 840 020 2 W , 




